Birthday
by Roaming Writer
Summary: Rapunzel awakes to another beautiful day. Just another normal day, right?


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Rapunzel felt the soft sunlight beaming through the windows. She rolled over to the side of her bed closer to the window, allowing more of the rays to touch her skin. She heard the birds chirping outside, welcoming the start of spring.

But this moment of peace was short lived as she heard Cassandra and Eugene's bickerings echoing outside her room.

Instead of listening for a rooster, Rapunzel would listen to the muffled arguments between the two to signal the start of a new day.

She quickly got up and straightened out her hair the best she could. Rapunzel unlaced her one piece sleepwear and walked over to the closet. She looked at her wardrobe and promptly picked out a green dress bordered with pink. She slipped into the dress, and laced it up by herself. As she hummed and sung to Pascal, it dawned on her that today was a special day. She knew she had to do something but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Then she remembered, it was Eugene's birthday!

She quickly rushed over to Eugene's room and barged in, seeing Eugene and Lance in the middle of an arm wrestling match, staring intensely into the other's eyes. They clenched their teeth and held their breaths so hard that their faces were noticeably red.

Eugene quickly glanced at Rapunzel and his face turned from determined to pleasantly surprised.

"Blondie! You're up early today!What's the occasion ?"

As Eugene was distracted, Lance quickly slammed his arm down on the table, causing Eugene to wince in pain.

"I got you good Flynn," Lance celebrated, finally letting go of Eugene's hand. Lance diverted his look at Rapunzel. "Good morning princess."

"Hey guys, I was just checking in with Eugene. It's his birthday today!" Rapunzel replied, as cheerful as always .

Lance got up and left the room, clearly satisfied with his arm wrestling victory.

Eugene shifted his attention away from his bruised hand and looked at Rapunzel with a confused face.

"Birthday?" Eugene questioned. "I didn't know I had a birthday. Orphans generally don't have one"

"Of course you do Eugene, remember that time we agreed to celebrate your birthday in March?"

Eugene recalled that day when they were camping next to a river on a cool and cloudless fall day. He chuckled at his memories of teaching Rapunzel how to fish, set up a tent, and start a fire. That night when they were sitting around the fire, Eugene asked about how she celebrated her birthday. She told him that she would look out her window and draw the floating lanterns, until he came and brought her to actually see them. The tables quickly turned when Rapunzel asked Eugene what he did. But of course, Eugene's childhood was anything but normal. With only Lance by his side and having no money, Eugene never really celebrated his birthday, much less knew when his birthday was. Rapunzel wanted to cheer him up, so she officially recognized his birthday in March, after he told her that his favorite season was spring. Eugene didn't think much of it at the time. After all, he had already forgotten about his "birthday." But that was so much like Rapunzel, so sweet and considerate to remember such a small promise.

"Of course I remember that… So, what are we going to do?"

"Well… " Rapunzel jumped at Eugene who quickly caught her. She interlocked lips with Eugene, who returned the favor. After this brief moment of romance, Rapunzel continued, "I was thinking we go sightseeing around Old Corona."

"Sounds good to me"

Eugene got up from his table and hugged Rapunzel, lifting her up from the ground. Rapunzel's laughter only encouraged Eugene more as he pecked her nose with multiple kisses.

They quickly left the castle, not wanting to attract too much attention from Cassandra or the King. They walked through the town hall and Rapunzel greeted the citizens who welcomed their beloved princess. When they finally reached the bridge, Rapunzel hopped onto the sides of the bridge, balancing and holding onto Eugene's guiding hand. Eugene loved Rapunzel's energy and the joy that she exudes. After crossing the bridge, she saw the outbreak of black rocks and felt a sharp pain in her head as if she had a reaction to them. She grabbed her head in pain and was about to pass out had Eugene not held and stabilized her.

"Woah woah, blondie are you ok?"

Rapunzel shook off that weird sensation and forced a smile on her face. "Yeah Eugene, I'm fine."

Rapunzel kept having nightmares of her past, of losing the people she loved. The black rocks were linked to all this, they were linked to her. But despite all this, she felt powerless to stop them. She didn't know why her hair grew back and why the rocks were popping up everywhere. She thought about Varian when he said that she was the only chance to save his father, to save Corona from the rocks. She tried to forget all this, to forget the pain she caused Varian. For days after that snowstorm Rapunzel broke down in tears. Did she really save Corona or did she just postpone the disasters? Rapunzel felt an arm curl around her waist, and heard Eugene's deep and comforting voice.

"Rapunzel, I don't know what's going on, but I think I can cheer you up."

Eugene grabbed Rapunzel by the hand and led her to a dock that had a small boat. At first she didn't see why Eugene led her here, but then when she moved through the newly bloomed trees, she saw that this was the same river that she first saw the floating lights on. The same river that she thought she saw Eugene betray her.

Eugene held both of Rapunzel's hands and gazed into her beautiful green eyes. "I know this isn't much but I was wondering if you wanted to…"

Before he could finish, Rapunzel interjected with a deep kiss. Eugene closed his eyes, and held her close, feeling her deep breathing, her chest moving up and down. He placed one hand on her face and the other behind her head. He felt Rapunzel's smooth skin glide past his coarse and scarred hands. Her hair flowed through his fingers and were just as smooth as her face was. The kiss seemed to last forever, but still Eugene felt that it was not the kiss Rapunzel continued, "I love it Eugene"

"I love it too. Kisses with you make my day."

Rapunzel let out a few giggles that made Eugene's heart skip beats. "I was talking about the boat ride Eugene. But yes, I love kissing you too."

The two of them entered the boat and exchanged a few laughs, reminiscing of the first day they came here. She remembered that it was the first time she ever trusted anyone. When she first saw Eugene enter her tower, she was scared of his large figure and his sneaky ways. But after spending time with Eugene, she knew that she didn't want to use him to help her see the lights anymore. She wanted to...love him.

Eugene released the rope and let the boat flow down the river, towards Corona. When the boat rounded the turn, the full beauty of the castle came into view. This was the spot when they released the lanterns.

But now it was still as beautiful as that day, especially the water glistening in the sunlight and the way Eugene looked at her. Like the boat, she felt all her fears float away.


End file.
